Twitter Lives On

This week if you “tweet” you have probably seen the LORT Twitter list that was posted by Yale MFA Student Devon Smith. Theatres that did well on the list are tweeting about how they did and I am sure the lower ranking ones are waking up and taking a real hard look at how they are doing not only with Twitter but social media in general. In the past month, four very smart people from the leaderships of various companies have come to me and said show me how to use twitter. I am not the best tweeter but I understand the basics and frankly once you practice it just isn’t that hard.

Number four on the “LORT Twitter Index” was Arena Stage. I think they are probably the best in the DC area about social media. They have a blog that is constantly updated and contains exciting stuff. They have YouTube channel that has great videos and is very well branded. They have a great Twitter account according to the list and most importantly they interact with their audience through these forms of media.

In a week they will be having a scavenger hunt that will be organized through Twitter and Facebook. It will take people on a journey through DC and I would imagine to the Lincoln Theatre where their production of The Fantasticks will be playing. The prize is actually a great one too, four tickets to opening night of The Fantasticks and a restaurant gift certificate for four.

Social media is more than just having a Twitter account and Facebook page but knowing how to take those tools and use them to interact with your audience.

Ask My Frends - Production Photos

Today we have a dear friend of mine from Arena Stage who is studying photography. Christina Rojas is one of the more fun and caring people I have ever worked with. Her topic was productions photos. I asked her to give us her thoughts on production photos.

"Given the right photographer, a picture can be worth a thousand words. But, in the arts world, a production picture can be worth a thousand audience members. And let’s be serious; producers aren’t weighing a show on how many words it’s going to return!

After much deliberation on how to best illustrate this point without using actual photos (The arts world is small; I’m not here to step on toes!), I’ve come to a decision. One I feel really good about! So, put on your “ready to think outside the box” caps and go with me here:

PRODUCTION PHOTOS ARE LIKE HAIR CUTS!

But, before we go any further, let’s come to an understanding. I am not for one second judging where you get your hair cut. I’ve had everything from a bargain bin poodle-perm to a day’s pay sleek angled asymmetrical bob and all kinds of disasters in between, so I, my friend, am not judging.

And away we go…

HAIR CUTTERY

You walk in. You talk to a hostess who quickly runs his/her finger through the appointment book, finds the employee who has been sitting idle the longest, and thus appoints your “specialized” stylist. You chat briefly about your future coiffure, rush to the shampoo/condition stall, return to your hydraulic chair. The magic is about to happen.

But, in the end, the magic consists mostly of those Ball-Under-Bowl or Is This The Right Card deals—your hair is in fact clean and shorter than when you walked in, and if you paid the additional $5, it is dry. So Hair Cuttery has held up its end of the bargain. Their work here is done.

.......................................................................

We’ve seen those production photos; hell, we may have even TAKEN those production photos. They are the ones that show us that yes, there is a stage. And yes, there are some people on that stage. And perhaps yes, there are some costumes and props and maybe even a focused light or two. But that’s all—they are a documentation that this production happened once.

AVEDA

You look online, ooh and aah at all the luxurious options you have, chat with an expert (seriously, it’s an option!), fine tune every detail of exactly what your visit will consist of, and finalize your appointment. Stir with excitement until the big day arrives.

A very pleasant someone meets you at the front, takes your coat/bag/trepidation, leads you to a waiting room with beverage options and a bubbling, stone-lined fountain. An impeccably dressed stylist sets you on your road to recovery, one which includes no less than three decadently thick towels wrapped around your organic lavender shampooed hair. Every single snip of those scissors is predetermined and perfectly pointed at what your stylist has crafted as your haircut. YOURS. And, well, you look fabulous. Obviously. But really, you FEEL fabulous. More than your hair being clean and shorter, your hair is now a Hairdo, and you are ready to work it.

.......................................................................

Those are the production photos that impart the story, capture that story in such a way that you immediately are drawn in and find it impossible to look away without wanting to know more. Maybe you want to know what happens in the following scene. Maybe you want to see what those sequins look like in the next dance number. These production photos are full-bodied and capture an experience.

TLC’S “WHAT NOT TO WEAR”

(Don’t pretend you haven’t seen it. You have. We know you have. And it’s okay. There are marathons running all the time and you probably were sucked in while flipping through channels. Seriously, we aren’t judging.)

But, those Converts walk through the Pearly Gates of Hair-ven a pre-Fairy Godmother Cinderella, are pampered and primped until the point of absolute indulgence, and emerge as Demi Moore—I mean, a WHOLE. NEW. PERSON, folks. That little man works wonders the world hasn’t seen since the Pyramids!

The Convert doesn’t just feel different, they ARE different. Their change is not solely topical but lies internally, in what they want for themselves, what they expect of themselves, what they expect of others.

.......................................................................

Sometimes, a photographer uses her lens to unearth a tiny and beautiful moment that was never scripted, never rehearsed, never intended. That glimpse transforms, re-envisions even, the initial body of work and thus becomes its own art.

So, what does all this mean? Great question.

Photographers, in the arts world it is imperative to really connect with your subject. Find a new vantage point. Find a story. Find a new story. Engage your audience. Shoot until the story speaks to you. Don’t be afraid to shoot outside your comfort zone.

These are the production photos that do their art and your creativity justice.

(Thanks for reading, y’all. And for hanging in there with the extended metaphor! Grab your camera and hit the open road!)"

Laramie Project, Ten Years Later

If you know me, then you know that there are not many plays I am really excited to see, but I am super excited about Laramie Project, Ten Years Later, which will be playing all over the country on October 12th, one day after the National Equality March. Click here to find a performance near you. So far over 150 theatres will present the show with The Tectonic Theatre Project. These readings are FREE, so I encourage you all to go and see this if you can. Locally, the show will be presented by Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre. You must RSVP for this event. Even Missouri there are at least four theatres putting on this production.

The Laramie Project is the about the death of Matthew Sheppard, a gay man who was beaten, robbed and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming. This play takes interviews from people in the town and covers all points of view. It is very moving, and now the company that wrote the play goes back to Laramie to see where the town is now and how America has changed in the last ten years.

I found a short video that gives you some insight into what you will see. Please watch the video and share with your friends. Glenn Close and Judy Sheppard will be webcast live from Lincoln Center before the readings, and this is something you won't want to miss. Check it out if you can.

Ad Evolution

Artwork is such an important part of advertising a show. When I worked at Arena Stage they had artists hired to draw and design a poster for every show. I loved the variety and loved that it was from different artists and not just a graphic designer who threw something together. I am not picking on graphic designers, but often the season designs look the same and don’t define every show as its own.

I ran across this link in the New York Times about the design and creation of the Ragtime poster and thought it was interesting to see the different stages of design and hear the creative director from the ad agency discuss how they got to the final poster.

In my office I have a poster of the 07-08 Broadway season and love how different the images are. When I look up at it, a couple of them pop out to me. Enjoy the video and tell me what your favorite show poster is.

NY Times Article

Ask My Frends - At the Ballet Part I

A couple of weeks ago we heard from a stage manager about the differences between Opera and Theatre and so I thought it would be interesting to hear the differences between Dance and Theatre. For that I have asked my dear friend Brianna Harnden. I actually help recruit Bri for Webster University and then hired her as an intern at Arena Stage where she went on to become a full-time staff member. Her true passion is with dance and Ballet and she has worked on several productions with the Washington Ballet. As you will see Bri is a tremendous writer although a little wordy for a blog so this will be broken into two days.

“From the audience, it is lush and perfect in the theatre before a ballet. The seats are the same thick velvet as the house curtain, and a little thrill runs through the air as the lights dim and the theater vibrates with the sound of a full, live orchestra tuning to A. From backstage, you are temporarily blinded by the abundant side-lighting required for dance. The dancers take their places, shedding their warm-up clothes and, with simply the straightening of a spine, transform their bodies into highly skilled, taut pieces of art in seconds. It goes dark onstage, and the curtain rises.

There is nothing more amazing and beautiful than watching ballet - except watching it from backstage. From the wings, you can see the dancers breathe. You can hear them mutter through frozen smiles at their partners before a particularly difficult lift. And my goodness do they sweat! The audience can see none of this, and to them it looks effortless. As a stage manager of ballet, I love that I get to see the secrets of this magical world, and be a small part of it.

The week before last one of our mutual friends wrote to you about the world of opera. Today I’m going to give you a little peek into the world of the ballet, and hopefully give you a feel for what it’s like to stage manage dance.

Like Kat and Jared, I was trained to stage manage for regional theatre. The basic organizational and communication skills you need to be an effective stage manager are the same across all fields of live entertainment, but there are many interesting deviations between forms. Ballet is an even more intense version of opera, I think. Gone are the days of feeding actors lines. Gone are the days of sitting behind a table in the rehearsal hall going through one page of script over and over, constantly erasing your blocking notes until the page resembles crumpled newspaper. Ballet is all tech and performance, quick and dirty work for a stage manager.

Let’s start from the beginning of a stage manager’s work on any one particular ballet. The first major difference is that they often work alone. In larger companies, they are likely to have one assistant, but 90% of the responsibility of the team still falls on the stage manager. Usually they begin working on a show 2 to 3 weeks before it goes into tech. This work is done usually in front of their TV at home, because the great majority of ballets are in true repertoire - meaning the ballet in question was choreographed, designed, rehearsed, perfected, and archived as many as 173 years ago. (Obviously in the case of those ballets, only the choreography is that old; the sets and costumes are newer.) The stage manager learns the choreography and music by watching a VHS or DVD of the piece from the last time it was recorded. Sometimes, if that particular company hasn’t done the ballet before, the tape and all set pieces and costumes will be sent from another company. Larger companies with fancy equipment have DVDs that actually include a feed of the stage manager calling the show, making the job of learning the show even easier. Still, without an extensive knowledge of how to read and (this is important) feel music, calling the hundreds of cues involved in a full-length classical ballet can be daunting.

A week or so before the big opening night, a team goes down to the warehouse and pulls out all of the set pieces and costumes and shines them up a bit. The dancers have been in the studio for a few weeks learning their parts by watching videos or learning from Ballet Masters, who are generally former principal dancers who know the choreography to many ballets in immense detail. Because these Masters deal with the pressings of play and pause on the stereo, the stage manager generally only has to attend one or two rehearsals in the studios. I like to lurk around more often because I find it fascinating, but most of the learning is done off of the archival tapes.

Another major difference: you don’t have to touch or check a single prop. You are there to call cues. That is all. Your assistant doesn’t even have to touch or check a single prop. Of course, as stage managers and perfectionists it is hard, and you’ll find us subtly glancing about the stage to make sure that the prop handlers have set the fake rat in the fireplace, tail facing downstage. To be honest, the job of an ASM in Ballet is not very difficult: they are basically there to patrol the stage and deal with any crises that pop up that the stage manager won’t be able to handle because she is in the midst of a huge cueing sequence. The assistant makes sure the proud moms of tiny ballerinas don’t sneak backstage to take pictures and get in the way of huge rolling staircases. They sit with the little girl who threw up on the stage left wall until her Dad comes to pick her up (glamorous, I know). They keep an eye on the Stage Manager’s water bottle and box of tissues. Keep the Dancers happy. Count to make sure there are 8 white butterflies and 8 blue butterflies at the top of Act Two, which is extremely difficult when the butterflies are actually dancers strolling about in the wings, never standing still, and constantly returning to the dressing rooms to get hairpins. Oh, and they all look exactly the same for about two weeks, with the identical costumes, makeup, and bunned hair.

The stage manager guides the team through the technical rehearsals, obviously working the most closely with the lighting designer. This process is very similar to it’s regional theatre counterpart, so I won’t go into too much detail. It’s like stage managing a huge musical with no lyrics. And once you settle into the run, which can be three or four weeks for a show like the Nutcracker or three or four nights for what we call a “series” piece (usually consisting of three shorter, more recently choreographed dances), it is just like the run of a big musical."

More to come tomorrow. . .

DC Regional 09-10 Season

I was looking through several local companies’ seasons, and I thought now would be a good time to highlight the shows I really want to see in the D.C. area.

First is The Musical of Musicals, the Musical at Metro Stage in Arlington. I love this soundtrack but have never actually seen the show. If you like musicals, this is a great show that makes fun of Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Webber, and more. It is fast and witty.

There are two shows I really want to see at Arena Stage. First is The Light In the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel. It was a big hit among my NY friends, but again, I have never seen it. It will be a scaled down version of the Broadway production, but I still look forward to hearing the songs in context and look forward to see what Molly Smith, Arena’s A.D., does with this musical.

The second show I really want to see at Arena is Sophisticated Ladies. I have actually seen this show before, but this time it will star Maurice Hines, whom I love. I worked with him at Arena’s announcement of the Mead Center, and he was so charming and talented I can’t wait to see what he does with this role.

Speaking of roles, did someone say Helen Mirren? Yes, she will be at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in September, and I cannot wait to see this. Tickets were sold out so fast that I will be one of few who get to see her in the only U.S. engagement, and I can’t wait. Yes, that is me looking forward to seeing a play.

Just when you couldn’t believe I was looking forward to seeing a play...I am also looking forward to another play, and a Shakespearean play at that. As You Like It at the Shakespeare Theatre Company will happen in November / December. I worked on this show in college, and I really do enjoy it...and this production in particular will take an interesting twist and will be a pretty large scale production. I have always been impressed with the technical work at STC as it is often as good, if not better, than shows I have seen on Broadway.

Another play. The Picture of Dorian Gray at Round House Theatre in Bethesda. I want to make this book into a modern musical, so I want to see how Roundhouse has adapted it and see it on stage for the first time.

I am also excited about The Last Cargo Cult at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. It is a one man show by Mike Daisey, and I just think the concept is interesting. This is taken from the website: “…Worshipers of cargo left behind by American GI’s, these islanders build meticulous bamboo replicas of Western engineering, re-enact scenes from internet broadcasts, and summon American power through sympathetic magic. What does our economic crisis mean to them, and what can they teach us about wealth and wishful thinking?” Interesting right? We will see.

Ford's Theatre is doing Little Shop of Horrors in the spring, and this is another show that I adore. I have seen it on stage 4 times and look forward to see how Ford’s takes on this giant plant. It is one of those musicals that is just fun to see.

I saved Signature Theatre for last. Why? Because I want to see everything in their season. I love the work they do and love musicals, so I will try and see everything. They have one play this year, I Am My Own Wife, and it will be directed by the very talented Alan Paul. I have never seen a show directed by Paul before, nor have I seen this Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Other shows in their season are Dirty Blonde, Show Boat, Sweeny Todd, Title of Show, and a new musical titled Sycamore Trees.

So, there you have it. My DC play list for this year. Which shows are you looking forward to?

Vacancy

So I was thinking about Capital Fringe, the Hip Hop Theatre Festival, and the Source Festival. They are all theatre festivals with low budgets, but they're all important to the Arts in Washington. They take place in the summer when most regional theatres are dark or mostly dark. I was thinking of how these festivals often bring in out-of-towners.

Why don’t regional theatres that have artist housing in the area lend a hand to these younger festivals? I am not saying they should give housing for free, but at Arena I know we had apartments sitting empty in the summer months. Maybe the festivals could pay for upfront costs, like cleanings, and maybe even have them cover ten percent of the cost. So if, let's just say, “Big Regional Theatre XYZ” had 10 empty apartments for which they paid $1,500 each month, they could give it to the festival for $150 a month, plus cleaning cost. Then “Big Regional Theatre XYZ” could make something off the apartment and help out a smaller festival.

Would this work? I know the devil is in the details, but if I got together Festival leaders and General/Company Managers, could they work out a plan to make this happen for next summer? Who knows. I will forward this blog to them and ask them to comment on the blog. And if you have ideas, you should comment too.

Ask My Friends - Company Management

So I remember being in college and not really understanding what a Company Manager and General Manager did. I would see their names and knew they were important by the placement but what did they do. Company Managers vary by what they are working on but I asked my friend Rachel Swan to tell me what a company manager in regional theatre did. I hired Rachel almost three years ago for Arena Stage and she jumped right in and was a great addition to the Arena Production Office. Since then she has grown to be a close friend.

"Hi. My name is Rachel, and I'm a Company Manager. Yups, I'm startingmy guest blog entry like I'm attending an AA meeting, but instead ofneeding a bottle of booze to get through my days, I'm addicted todetails, logistics & waiting for a pipe to burst. But they don't have meetings for that.

Alright, let me try to start at the beginning. In the grand theatricalscheme of things, the Company Manager assists the General Manager withcontracts (generally, doing the negotiations-in consultation with theGM, and definitely doing the paperwork), budgets, travel, housing, andpayroll. The Company Manager is also at the theater for eachperformance, checking in with the acting company and the sales office andbeing the person on the front lines for the producer(s).

In my current position as Company Manager for Arena Stage, I do some ofthose things and a great deal of others! I like to describe my job asmaking folks' contracts, then making sure each aspect is lived upto!

So, for an actor, director, or designer, it works something like this:My boss negotiates their contract with them (or their agent). I take myboss's notes and draft up a contract. That contract is sent via email orfax to the actor/their agent for approval. Once everyone agrees with allthe details, I create a contract packet, which includes partially executedcontracts (signed by my boss), and send it off. The actor countersignsthe contract and mails back copies (keeping one for themselves,hopefully...or I just mail one back!).

The first thing I address in their contract is travel andhousing. If they're local to D.C., I don't do anything because they'realready here and know how to get around (hopefully)! If they're from somewhere else,about a month before the first rehearsal, I'll contact them to make travelarrangements. The mode is specified in their contracts (train - regional orexpress, plane - coach or business, or driving - which means I have toarrange parking at their housing, the rehearsal hall, and the theater).

Next, I arrange for somewhere for them to live! Arena guests typicallystay at an apartment in a high-rise housing complex in which we rent anumber of units. They're spread throughout the complex, so folks can have theirprivacy. We rent out units on yearly leases, rent furniture, providehousewares (sheets to colanders and everything in between, per theAEA-LORT agreement), and arrange a cleaning service to go through betweeneach guest. So, I've got to coordinate who's in which apartment andwhat time, keys, laundry cards, get general info about the housing toguests (folks need to know their addresses to order take out!), etc.

While a person is in town for Arena, if they have any issue with their housing(broken toilet, gas smell, anything...you name it!), they come to me!I'm also in charge of paychecks (getting them to wherever folks are via mail or hand delivery) and billing (double checking that things are spelled correctly, listed in the correct order, orare in the program at all!!)."

Tonys Part II

Okay, I have now gotten over the sound issues. Now I move on to my other issue. It is not with the Tonys but with theatres around the country. I think we should not have performances on Tony night. It is a time to celebrate the art. Why not say we are closed Sunday night because of the Tony Awards. Move the schedule around and have a student matinee. Imagine how the viewership would grow if they did that. So if you have the power to adjust the schedule, remember to move your schedule next year to accommodate the Tonys.

The second part of today is about Washington DC. What a night to shine. Several shows on the Awards had ties to DC. And after Glory Days we needed that. Next to Normal made a stop in DC at Arena Stage which is also where 33 Variations started. West Side Story had its out of town try outs in DC. And if you have been reading my blog you know Signature Theatre won the regional Tony Award.

Stay tuned for tomorrows blog. I have decided to have guest bloggers on Wednesdays. Just to shake it up a little. We will call it “Ask My Friends.” So don’t miss it.

Twitter

I have talked about Facebook and the why I like it so much on this blog. Now it is time to talk about the other big social networking / media site Twitter. Twitter is new to me. I have had an account for 3 months. But I am just now learning how to use it. Lots of people use it as a Facebook wall and just write what they are doing throughout the day. But others are starting to really get a lot out of it.

The updates of your day are really boring unless you are a star or someone I am extremely interested in like Ken Davenport. A friend of mine said this weekend that Twitter won’t be around in a year. At which point we made a bet. If Twitter is more popular I win if it less popular then he wins. The hard part about this bet is that I can not find the number of Twitter users today.

When you start with Twitter it might take a while to find it useful. You might start to follow a lot of people that you really find useless. But stick with it. Un-follow them and work to build the right Twitter group to follow. Then you will find it useful.

Theatres are still figuring out how to use Twitter. Some just send out discounts and specials. (I un-follow those people fast.) Others are having important people in their company talk about what they are doing. Those I think are the most interesting. Who wouldn’t want an insight of the company they enjoy. Arena Stage just offered free tickets in Tweet. I think this was to test how many of the followers really read the tweets. I would be curious of the results. In my own experience the followers that act on tweets is very small but then again I am not giving away free tickets.

If you find Twitter useful please write a comment about how you use Twitter it could be to just get news or just follow friends. And don’t forget to follow me at @nderaj.

Dive Right In

I told you a couple of days ago about my meeting with Edgar Dobie from Arena Stage. Well, in that meeting we were talking about my job as a Booking Manager and how bookings affect the Shakespeare Theatre and I told him about a bi-monthly meeting I started with the other regional theatres that handle rentals. I asked if maybe he wanted to send someone from Arena to the meeting.

I was so impressed by him in our meeting that it wasn’t too surprising when he said he wanted to attend himself. I know, and I am sure he knows, that this could easily be passed off to someone below him but he wanted to jump in and get an understanding of what the meeting was about before sending someone else.

As a leader it is so easy to pass things off to staff but really good leaders jump in and get their feet wet. They want to understand the organization from top to bottom. Think of all meetings your staff goes to on your behalf. I suggest you step in on some of those meetings to get a better understand of your organization or your production. Knowledge is power so learn more about what people on the inside of your company are doing.

Passion

You knew it was coming. Passion! You hear it all the time in this business. When I was in the CTI 14-week program, it became a running joke because every week a new producer came in and almost always drifted toward the topic of “passion.” Well, guess what? They were right.

In this business, you can’t get rich quick. In fact, very few of us get rich in this business at all. We do it because we love it. If you don’t LOVE it, then you should save yourself a lot of time and energy and do something you do love. Yes, there are days when I wish I had a normal 9 to 5 job, but most days I am truly excited about coming to work and excited about what I do. When you are deciding what you really want to do (it could be which show you produce or what to study in school), follow your heart. If you really love it, then go for it, and don’t let anything or anyone hold you back. People told me I was not good enough to get into Webster and told me I shouldn’t move to D,C. Well, those have turned out to be two of the best decisions for my career.

Back in Missouri, there are several “mega churches” where I grew up. I always wondered how they became so successful. The answer is the leaders of those churches are passionate about what they do, and they get very passionate followers. They continue to grow and grow. Theatre, like religion, is full of very passionate people. Take the passion of the late Gilbert and Jaylee Mead.

“Gilbert and Jaylee are perhaps the single largest individual supporters of the performing arts in the greater D.C. region; privately and through their family foundation, they have given more than $50 million to theaters in the Washington region. The couple was awarded the ‘Patron of the Arts’ award from the Cultural Alliance, the Washington Post Award for distinguished community service in 1996, and the Mayor’s Arts Award for service to the arts in 1998. They were Washingtonians of the Year in 1999” (Source: Arena Stage website).